The Worst Days
by PigSHOCKrabbit
Summary: Shinpachi is wounded and Tetsu is sick. How do the ones closest to them react?
1. Chapter 1

Spap: Howdy Howdy! Changed my penname once again, I can never make up my mind! This is my third fanfic on and my first PMK fic! Obviously, PMK isn't mine, or there would be a hell of a lot more Shinpachi in it! Most of this fic came to me when I was watching the movie Saw one night and afterwards I was hungry, and the only thing edible at the time was Chinese. Enough of my rambling, on with the ficness!

Never let an enemy live. That was a strictly enforced rule of the Shinsengumi. He had done just that, killed anyone against him. Even if wounded, which he was now, he couldn't let anyone get away, and he didn't.

Leaning against the side of a closed shop, Shinpachi waited for reinforcements to arrive. His body ached and fresh blood oozed from deep wounds. Although his eyelids begged to send him into unconsciousness, he fought it off by making desultory comments to himself.

"I wonder if Sanos alright. Most likely. Maybe I should…" He stopped mid-sentence, and pushed himself off the wall onto unsteady legs. "..go see…" Shinpachi felt light-headed for a moment and almost fell forward, but managed to catch himself beforehand. He had no clue as to where Sanosuke was, and only came up with one solution to finding his companion.

"Sano!" Shinpachi yelled as best he could. He regretted it instantly, for it had only made his head hurt more.

"Yea, what?" came the simple answer. Shinpachi was lucky, Sanosuke was nearby. He knew Sanosuke would help, they were friends. He cared, right? The boy shook his head, bothered by the fact he had thought so negative.

"Sano…Clear…" His speech failed him, just as his body did. The sick taste of blood ran down his tongue, and he spat to get the fluid out of his mouth. He could see Sanosuke now, and the scarred man could see him.

"Shinpachi! What in the hell!" The taller male called as he lowered himself to almost Shinpachi's height. Shinpachi responded by collapsing.

"Hey. Hey!" Sanosuke gathered up the younger male in his arms and shook him. The other let out a groan, but never stirred. Sano took notice of the darker places on Shinpachi's outfit. Blood spots. With one hand, Sanosuke removed the clothing that covered Shinpachi's chest, and noted the damage.

"Damned miracle you lived through that." He muttered and eased Shinpachi over his right shoulder. Shinpachi's own right shoulder had been stabbed through, and various cuts decorated his arms. Worst injury had to be his ribcage, which looked as if someone had stabbed and twisted the sword. Sanosuke didn't even want to think about how painful that was.

With one arm he carried his spear, and the other, Shinpachi, he made his way back to the hall.

"Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored." Souji complained, as he hugged Saizo even closer to his chest. Two of the jokers had gone on patrol, and left him with nothing to do except wait for their return, which took much longer than usual. Needless to say, he was more than happy when he heard the sliding of the main doors. Unfortunately for Souji, his happiness was short lived.

"What happened?" were the words that first formed in his mouth. Sanosuke grunted in response and tore the rest of Shinpachi's shirt off, and threw the dirtied clothing aside. He turned and faced the curious and concerned Souji.

"I need bandages and water," Sanosuke ordered, not concerned if he was out of line. Okita stood and stared at the taller male for a moment, then ran to fetch the things that were requested. Sano's wait was not long, for in minutes Souji returned with his arms full and Hijikata following close behind.

Sanosuke snatched the supplies from Okita and worked on the wounds on Shinpachi's side. The silence that draped over the three made Sano even more stressed than he already was, so he broke it by asking Hijikata a question.

"The puppy not helping today?" His question sounded smug, as it was intended to be. Souji took it seriously, though, and gave him an answer.

"Oh, Tetsu is really sick today. Tatsu is with him and he-" The dark haired man was cut off my Hijikata.

"Chopsticks." Was what the older commander said. Sanosuke blinked a couple of times, then looked from the unconscious boy to Hijikata.

"What in the hell!"

"There is a piece of steel lodged in his side, chopsticks would be needed to get it out." Hijikata explained. Souji cringed, doing that was going to hurt. Sano lifted Shinpachi off the ground a few inches, and received a groan of protest from the younger man. He saw the slight shine of metal in one of Shinpachi's wounds, and nodded.

Two thin, wooden sticks were fetched and it was decided that Hijikata would use them while Okita and Sanosuke held Shinpachi down, in case of a struggle.

With the teen pinned against the floor, Hijikata quickly worked. Shinpachi put up as much fight as he could in his weakened state, but Sano and Souji kept a tight grip on him. In a matter of minutes, the Vice Commander held up a pair of bloodied chopsticks, and clamped tightly between the ends was the tip of someone's sword. Sanosuke quickly bandaged that wound and stood to face the other two. Hijikata made the situation lighter than it seemed.

"He'll stay in your quarters until recovered." Was all he said to Sano before he walked off and Okita followed him.

"Great…" Sano muttered under his breath and gathered up his unconscious ally. As he carried him to his quarters, he passed where Tatsunosuke and Tetsunosuke were. Sanosuke gave a small grin as he watched as the older brother stared at the sleeping younger.

"If both shortys are down, then who do we pick on?"

Spap: Well… I had intended this to be a one shot… but… I'm lazy. Shall I continue? Click the Review button and give me your opinion. Flames will be used to light joints!


	2. Chapter 2

Spap: Howdy again! I have received reviews! To those who wrote them…Wipes away a tear I…I love you! Invader Zim fans would get that. Sorry it took so long to update, DDR is an addicting game. Also, my computer is a retard (isn't everyone's these days?) , but it was mostly DDR. Anyway, This chapter is mostly about Tetsu and his ordeal. It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. On with the fic!

Being page to the to the cranky crap geezer also known as Vice Commander Hijikata was bad. Being page to the cranky crap geezer also known as Vice Commander Hijikata while you head felt like a ton of bricks was hell.

Tesunosuke wiped away sweat from his forehead and continued to wash the laundry that had been assigned to him. He paused for a second and looked around, something was not normal. No sounds were heard from the training hall.

"Must mean Shinpachi and Sanosuke are out somewhere." He muttered and hung the last piece of clothing to dry. He cringed as he heard Hijikata's voice ordering tea. As much as he had wanted to yell some random insult, he only called back two words.

"Yes, Sir."

The red haired boy ran toward the kitchen and began to boil a pot of water. Waiting for the pot to heat up, Tetsu leaned against the wall and wiped more sweat from his forehead. He felt awful today, his limbs ached and he couldn't hold down his breakfast to save his life. Tatsunosuke had asked about his well-being in the morning, but he had shrugged him off and ignored the question.

"Where is my tea!" Hijikata's voice brought Tetsu out of his daze and back to his job.

"C-coming!" Tetsu shouted back and placed the cup of hot liquid onto a tray. Slowly, the boy made his way towards the Vice Commanders quarters.

Though he didn't show it, Hijikata was actually was surprised. Tetsunosuke had made it to his room without spilling the tea. Even more surprising, was it had tasted like tea. Hijikata could only conclude that the boy was sick. As he closed his eyes, he thought of the many chores he could tell Tetsu to do, but stopped when he heard a small thud.

When he reopened his eyes, Hijikata saw his page on the floor. He slowly stood and walked over to the boy, stopping to tap Tetsunosuke's side with his foot.

"Hey…" He muttered and looked around. So the boy really was sick. Hijikata heaved a sigh and shrugged as he grabbed Tetsu by the back of his shirt and walked over to bookkeeping.

One look at his little brother, as he was carried in by Hijikata, sent Tatsunosuke into a frenzy. The bookkeeper grabbed Tetsu from Hijikata's grasp and ran down the hallway, sliding at every corner he turned. Okita caught sight of the two brothers and greeted them loudly as they passed.

"Sorry, no time to talk Okita-san, Tetsus sick." Tatsunosuke replied in one breath and then ran off.

"Oh, But I don't think dragging him around like that is helping." Souji said to nobody in particular.

"I think your worrying too much, Tatsunosuke." Yamazaki's voice remained calm as he leaned against the doorway of the bookkeeping quarters.

"I guess, but he did collapse." Tatsunosuke said. Tetsu lay beside him, covered and with a cool rag on his forehead. Tatsu stared at his younger brother in a daze, until Yamazaki brought him out of it.

"Only because he overdid it." The watcher had a point. Tetsunosuke muttered something incoherent in his slumber and rolled onto his side. Yamazaki shrugged and walked away, not wanting Tatsu to see the awkward smile on his face.

Hijikata had returned to his room and had Souji doing Tetsunosuke's tasks for the page while he was sick. A slight headache had come to him after the earlier events, but it didn't keep him from reading his Haiku book. Something had bothered the Vice Commander since he had handed his page over to Tatsunosuke.

After he realized he had read over the same poem four times, he considered what was bothering him. Could it be he was actually concerned for Tetsunosuke's well-being? Maybe he should ask if the boy was alright.

"Souji." Hijikata called out Okita's name. The long haired male came quickly and with his usual smile across his face.

"Yes, Hijikata-san?"

"Tell me-," He stopped, heavily reconsidering swallowing his pride and asking about Tetsu. Hijikata shook his head. "Nevermind."

"Okay," With that, Souji exited the room and headed towards the pig pen. Upon arrival, Saizo separated himself from the other pigs and trotted over to his owner. Okita gathered up the small animal in his arms and looked above the Shinsengumi's walls.

"It's getting dark soon. Lets check on Tetsu and then wait for Nagakura-san and Harada-san to come back from patrol." He told the pig and then walked toward the bookkeeper's room. As the young swordsman walked down the halls of the Shinsengumi, complaining loudly of boredom, he heard the main doors open with a loud bang.

"Oh! They're back!" Souji cried with joy as he nearly ran toward the doors. He knew the jokers would not have a second thought about keeping him entertained. When he caught sight of the second units Captain being carried in by Sanosuke, his joy faded instantly.

Sanosuke yelled an order for bandages and water, but Okita had barley heard him. When the tenth unit Captain raised his voice, Souji nodded and ran to gather the supplies requested. On his way, he stopped by Hijikata's room and informed him on what was going on.

The Vice Commander closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose before rising to his feet and following Okita. He was in for a long night.

Spap: That's it! That's chapter two! Thank you to all who reviewed chapter one! More reviews and I'll continue. Flames will be used to light joints (and I'll share with all the nice reviewers).


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